CfP: Special issue of the European Journal of Risk Regulation - titled Omnibus Legislation and EU Regulatory Reform: Between Efficiency and Constitutional Integrity

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I am delighted to pass along this call for papers for a Special issue of the European Journal of Risk Regulation, the theme of which is "Omnibus Legislation and EU Regulatory Reform: Between Efficiency and Constitutional Integrity." Its guest editor is Alberto Alemanno, Jean Monnet Professor in European Union Law at HEC Paris.

Here is the description:

The European Union is undergoing a fundamental transformation in how it makes law. Responding to calls for simplification and competitiveness – echoed and amplified by demands from the US Administration –, the EU Commission has embraced omnibus legislation as the principal mechanism for systematic regulatory reform. Omnibus acts, which amend multiple legal instruments across disparate regulatory domains in a single legislative package, have evolved from rarely-used technical consolidation tools into vehicles for substantive deregulatory policy change. Since January 2025, the Commission has embarked on an unprecedented wave of omnibus legislation, with multiple packages spanning across sustainability (Omnibus I), investment (Omnibus II), agriculture (Omnibus III), single market rules (Omnibus IV), defense (Omnibus V), and chemicals (Omnibus VI). The EU Parliament quiescently accepted the use of this legislative technique by putting the Omnibus I package to a vote. Looking ahead to 2026, more than half of planned proposals are packaged as omnibuses, covering areas as diverse as digital regulation - which was presented today -, environmental policy, food and feed safety, automotive standards, energy products, taxation, and citizenship.


This proliferation of omnibus legislation fundamentally changes the procedural and substantive framework through which regulatory change occurs in the EU. While the omnibus might not be incompatible with the EU legal order, its current practice raises significant questions about constitutional integrity, procedural safeguards, fundamental rights protection, and the balance between efficiency and legality in EU lawmaking. The academic literature on omnibus legislation under EU law remains notably limited. While comparative scholarship has extensively examined omnibus practices in national systems (e.g. United States, Canada, Israel, and EU Member States), the supranational dimension has been largely overlooked.


This Special issue of the European Journal of Risk Regulation - titled Omnibus Legislation and EU Regulatory Reform: Between Efficiency and Constitutional Integrity - seeks to address this gap by providing the first systematic scholarly analysis of EU omnibus legislation at a time when it is becoming a central instrument of regulatory reform. We welcome contributions that are critical, supportive, or ambivalent regarding omnibus techniques, including work that identifies circumstances in which omnibus legislation can be designed compatibly with constitutional safeguards and robust protection levels. Ultimately, the Union's legitimacy depends on the reviewability and accountability of its acts, including those that purport to simplify and “cut red tape”. Even the most ambitious simplification agendas must unfold within, never outside, the discipline of law.

The full CfP follows below.

 

The European Union is undergoing a fundamental transformation in how it makes law. Responding to calls for simplification and competitiveness – echoed and amplified by demands from the US Administration –, the EU Commission has embraced omnibus legislation as the principal mechanism for systematic regulatory reform. Omnibus acts, which amend multiple legal instruments across disparate regulatory domains in a single legislative package, have evolved from rarely-used technical consolidation tools into vehicles for substantive deregulatory policy change. Since January 2025, the Commission has embarked on an unprecedented wave of omnibus legislation, with multiple packages spanning across sustainability (Omnibus I), investment (Omnibus II), agriculture (Omnibus III), single market rules (Omnibus IV), defense (Omnibus V), and chemicals (Omnibus VI). The EU Parliament quiescently accepted the use of this legislative technique by putting the Omnibus I package to a vote. Looking ahead to 2026, more than half of planned proposals are packaged as omnibuses, covering areas as diverse as digital regulation - which was presented today -, environmental policy, food and feed safety, automotive standards, energy products, taxation, and citizenship.


This proliferation of omnibus legislation fundamentally changes the procedural and substantive framework through which regulatory change occurs in the EU. While the omnibus might not be incompatible with the EU legal order, its current practice raises significant questions about constitutional integrity, procedural safeguards, fundamental rights protection, and the balance between efficiency and legality in EU lawmaking. The academic literature on omnibus legislation under EU law remains notably limited. While comparative scholarship has extensively examined omnibus practices in national systems (e.g. United States, Canada, Israel, and EU Member States), the supranational dimension has been largely overlooked.


This Special issue of the European Journal of Risk Regulation - titled Omnibus Legislation and EU Regulatory Reform: Between Efficiency and Constitutional Integrity - seeks to address this gap by providing the first systematic scholarly analysis of EU omnibus legislation at a time when it is becoming a central instrument of regulatory reform. We welcome contributions that are critical, supportive, or ambivalent regarding omnibus techniques, including work that identifies circumstances in which omnibus legislation can be designed compatibly with constitutional safeguards and robust protection levels. Ultimately, the Union's legitimacy depends on the reviewability and accountability of its acts, including those that purport to simplify and “cut red tape”. Even the most ambitious simplification agendas must unfold within, never outside, the discipline of law.


Guest Editor: Alberto Alemanno


Topics

We invite contributions addressing (but not limited to): 

- Constitutional and Procedural Dimensions

--Compatibility of omnibus legislation with EU constitutional principles (proportionality, legal certainty, institutional balance)
--Adequacy of existing procedural safeguards in Better Regulation frameworks and their prospective reform
--Comparative analysis with omnibus practices in Member States and third countries
--Role of inter-institutional agreements in constraining bundling practices
--Effects of omnibus techniques on the transparency, predictability and contestability of EU rulemaking

- Substantive Policy Impacts

--Sectoral case studies of specific omnibus packages (sustainability, digital, environment, agriculture, chemicals, defense, investment, etc.) and their consequences for protection levels
--Impact on regulatory protection levels across policy domains
--Distributional effects and stakeholder impacts of omnibus reforms
--Relationship between omnibus legislation and the EU's international regulatory influence (e.g. Brussels effect, EU external action, common commercial policy, etc)
--Role of EU agencies, committees and other expert bodies in designing, implementing and monitoring omnibus reforms

- Fundamental Rights and Judicial Review

--Charter implications of systematic protection-level reduction
--Justiciability and reviewability of omnibus acts
--Evidentiary requirements for proportionality review in bundled legislation, including the role of impact assessments, evaluations and scientific advice
--The legal nature of impact assessment and relationship with public consultations in the context of omnibus packages
--Role of national courts in reviewing omnibus-based derogations

- Democratic Legitimacy and Participation

--Article 11 TEU implications of restricted consultation practices
--Role of the European Parliament in scrutinising omnibus proposals
--Access to justice and standing for affected stakeholders
--Transparency and accountability in omnibus lawmaking
--Interactions between omnibus legislation, better regulation agendas and narratives of simplification, “cutting red tape” or reducing regulatory burdens

- Comparative and Theoretical Perspectives

--Historical evolution of omnibus techniques in EU and comparative context, including crisis-driven and emergency omnibus legislation
--Theoretical frameworks for evaluating legislative bundling
--Lessons from single-subject rules and anti-omnibus provisions elsewhere
--Future trajectories: normalization, constitutionalization, or abandonment?
--Normative benchmarks and design principles for legitimate omnibus lawmaking in a multi-level, risk-regulatory legal order

Submission Information


Deadline for abstracts (500 words): 24 December 2025
Notification of acceptance: 12 January
Full paper submission: 31 March 2026
Expected publication: December 2026


Abstracts should outline the research question, theoretical and/or methodological approach, main argument, and (where relevant) empirical material or case studies, in no more than 500 words.


Full papers should generally be between 8,000 and 10,000 words, including footnotes, and must comply with the EJRR author guidelines. All submissions will be subject to double-blind peer review in accordance with EJRR’s standard procedures. We particularly encourage submissions from early-career researchers, including PhD candidates and postdoctoral scholars. Abstracts and inquiries should be sent to: wirajendi@hec.fr